Digital clock with additional data indication

ABSTRACT

The clock comprises a combination of a time indicator in the form of a digit-bearing tilting plates system and an additional data indicator in the form of an endless belt that is disposed adjacent to the tilting plates time indicator. The belt is driven by a separate clock mechanism and manually adjustable by a control knob.

[451 Feb. 29, 1972 United States Patent Rams et al.

Cappellari...................................

DATA INDICATION [72] Inventors:

it mmw 0.11.10 .JFFS 511234 6 005 99999 lllll l/l/l 6242 l I 46605 76763 1 1 05547 29126 2 9776 3 2 m L I A cw N sT 0 m I. uh T ac a I. b D fm H mm 5 H .w T my I K n w .so K m C nG f 0 I L mm C .wh L DCb A T l G I D l 4 5 Braun Aktiengesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main, Qermany Primary ExaminerRichard B. Wilkinson Assistant ExaminerStanley A. Wal

[73] Assignee:

May 11, 1970 Att0rneyErnest F. Marmorek [22] Filed:

[21] Appl. No.: 36,250

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data form of a digit-bearing tilting plates system and an additional data indicator in the form of an endless belt that is disposed May adjacent to the tilting plates time indicator. The belt is driven by a separate clock mechanism and manually adjustable by a [51] int. [58] Field ofSearch Reierences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Gates Patented Feb. 29, 1972 3,645,087

2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented Fel 29, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 DIGITAL CLOCK WITH ADDITIONAL DATA INDICATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to clock pieces having springing digit-bearing plates for the time indication. More particularly, this invention relates to clock pieces of the above type which are provided with additional data indicators.

It has been known from prior art digital clocks how to employ digit-bearing plates that are tiltably arranged on rotatable drums. The drums are supported for rotation about a horizontal axis and are uniformly driven by a time-dependent drive mechanism. The intermittent motion of slower drums is thereby derived from the movement of the preceding faster rotating drum. The fastest drum serves mostly for indication of hours.

If further informationsuch as the day, the date, the week or themonth, for example, is to be indicated, an additional drum with-springing digit plates has been hitherto employed and its movement derived in the same manner as at the time indicating drums. As a consequence, all these drums must be arranged along a single horizontal axis and the indication of such data would require an exceedingly wide configuration of the resulting digital clock. For this reason, the hitherto manufactured digital clocks with an additional data indicator have been limited to one or two additional readings only. The extended indication results, however, in considerably increased expenditures in comparison with plain digital clocks. since each added reading requires a separate drum with corresponding separate transmissions or driving mechanisms. Moreover,

- BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to avoid the above described disadvantages of prior art digital clocks with extended data indications. v

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a digital clock with an extended data indication that is simple in design and permits a space-saving arrangement of the additional data indicators.

Another object'of this invention is to provide asimple control mechanism for manual adjustment of the additional data indicators.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means for manual adjustment of two data indicators by a single control knob.

' According'to this invention, the-above objects are attained by providingacombination of conventional digital clocks with at least one additional data indicator in the form of an endless belt that is arranged adjacent to the digital clock and manually .adjustable by a rotatable member engaging, the inner periphery of the belt. The additional data-bearing endless belt can be driven preferably by. a separate clock mechanism. The belt is supported for movement on a plurality of rollers or bolts projecting from a sidewall of the chassis of the digital clock.

According to another feature of this invention, the endless band or bands are provided at a marginal area thereof with. a perforation which engages with a sprocket wheel of a driving roller. This driving roller, as mentioned above, is driven by means of an additional driving mechanism and adjusted manually through a control knob that can be disconnected by a coupling. In another modification, the indication band is provided on its inner peripherywith projecting driving teeth that engage with corresponding driving gear.

In accordance with still another feature of this invention, thecontrol knob is connected with an adjustment mechanism which is adapted for performing two functions, subject to the direction of its movement. For example, if the adjustment mechanism is rotated in one direction, it adjusts the indication on.the clock piece, that is the position of, the tiltable digit plates. If it is rotated in the opposite direction, however, it adjusts the position of the indicator band for the additional information. In case of several additional data indicators, it is advantageous to arrange always one adjustment mechanism for two adjacent indicator bands.

In a further development of this invention, the digital clock is associated with an alarm device whereby the additional indication band serves as an alarm time setting member for the alarm device. As in the previous case, the adjustment mechanism is preferably adapted both for the alarm time adjustment and for the winding of the alarm clock.

The adjustment mechanism can be shiftably arranged for displacement in axial direction of its shaft and coupled with the alarm clock in such a manner as to release or lock the sound producing member during one of its axial positions. It is also possible to modify. the adjustment mechanism so as to lock or unlock the alarm clock in one direction of its rotary movement and to set the alarm time in the reverse direction of its adjustment.

The clock mechanism for the additional readings such as, for instance, the date, the day, the week or the month, is in a suitable conventional manner provided with means which ad vance the indicator band at midnight every 24 hours.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS Further features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of several specific embodiments as shown in the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a front view of the digital clock with an additional day indicator according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the digital clock of FIG. 1 without the housing;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the digital clock with two additional indicators according to the invention, without the housing;

FIG.4 is a perspective detailed view of an indicator band with a teeth drive;

FIG. 5 isv a schematic elevational view of the adjustment mechanism withdirection controlling couplings;

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of a drive gear for the adjustment mechanism of FIG. 5 with a ratchetpawl coupling; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic elevational view of the adjustment mechanism with direction-controlling couplings for two drives .and with locking and unlocking means for controlling an alarm clock;

FIG. 8 is a schematic elevational view of a bidirectional adjustment mechanism for the alarm time setting and for the winding of the alarm clock; and

FIG. 8a is a side view, partly in section, of the adjustment mechanism of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the figures, like parts are designated with identical reference numerals. With reference to FIG. 1, there is illustrated adigital clock having a housing 1, windows 2, 3 and 4 in the frontwall of the housing 1; the springing digit-bearing plates 21-. and, 31 are tiltably arranged on rotating drums disposed opposite to respective windows 2 and 3 in the housing'l, whereas the window 4 serves for anadditional indicator (a dayindicator) inthe form of an endlessbelt 41 that is manually adjustable. bymeans of alaterally projecting control knob 5. The manualadjustmentof the position of the digitbearing plates .21 and 31 is carried outby another control knob 6 thatjs arranged at the opposite side of the housing 1.

. FIG. 2 shows the inside arrangement of the digital clock of FIG. 1 with the housing I removed. The digital clock includes the hour digit plates 21 and the minute digit plates 31 supported on a chassis. between lateral partitions 8. Accordingto this invention, one partition 8 is provided with guiding rollers 92 and with a driving sprocketwheel 10 for guiding and driving the endless indicator belt 4-1. The sprocket wheel is driven by a separatesclock:mechanism 7 which is located within the loop of the endless belt 41 and in a known manner advances intermittently every 24 hours the indicator belt 41 about one indication field. The guiding rollers 92 rotate freely on supporting bolts 9 whereas the sprocket wheel engages with a perforation that is provided in the marginal area of the indicator belt 41. By means of a coupling mechanism that will be described hereafter, the driving sprocket wheel 10 is coupled with a control knob 5 for manual adjustment of the position of the belt 41.

FIG. 3 illustrates further modification of the digital clock according to this invention. The clock combines two sets of digit-bearing tiltable plates 21 and 31 with two additional indicator belts 41 and 42. The digit plates 21 and 31 indicate hours and minutes and the endless indicator belts 41 and 42 indicate the date (the days and months). In a very simple manner, the additional indicator belt 42 is held in position by guiding rollers 93 and 94 that are supported on extended bolts 9. As in the previous case, the indicator belts 41 and 42 are provided with perforations 411 and 412 to insure reliable engagement with respective driving sprocket wheels (not shown). The position adjustment of the indicator belts 41 and 42 is accomplished by the control knob 5 which, as it will be described later, can perform several controlling functions in response to the sense of its rotation or in response to its axial displacement.

In FIG. 4, there is shown an indicator belt where, instead of a perforation, a teething is provided on its inner periphery. The teeth are in mesh with a driving gear 42 that is disconnectably coupled with the control knob 5 for the manual adjustment of the belt position.

FIG. 5 illustrates in a greater detail the adjustment mechanism of the control knob 5. The control knob 5 is secured-to one end of a shaft 51 which supports spaced gears 52 and 53. The gears 52 and 53 are slidably supported on the shaft 51 and coupled thereto by means of unidirectional couplings as it will be explained with reference to FIG. 6. Due to the unidirectional couplings, one of the gears 52 and 53 is carried by the shaft 51 in one direction only whereas in the opposite direction it remains disengaged. Driving gears 54 and 55 are in engagement with respective gears 52 and 53, and in dependence of their direction of rotation the driving gears transmit rotary motion on two indication belts (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 6, the unidirectional coupling for the gear 52 comprises a ratchet wheel 511 that is firmly connected to the shaft 51. A ratchet pawl 512 is hinged to the gear 52 and held in engagement with the ratchet wheel 511 by means of a spring 513. A like ratchet wheel is provided for the gear 53, only the inclination of teeth is reversed to insure the engagement with the shaft 5 I in the opposite direction.

With reference to FIG. 7, there is shown a similar arrange ment of the adjustment mechanism for the control knob 5 as in FIG. 5, where two gears 52 and 53 are controlled by a single control knob 5. In addition, the shaft 51 is, within predetermined limits, supported for movement in the axial direction. Such an axial displacement enables a mechanical or electrical controlling of further devices such as, for instance, an alarm clock. The switch lever 6 of an electric alarm device can be thus controlled for connecting or disconnecting the contacts 61 and 62.

It is also possible to control the winding operation of the alarm clock by turning the knob 5 in one direction provided that one of the driving gears 52 or 53 is, in a suitable conventional manner, coupled with the alarm clock winding mechanism. The other driving gear is coupled with the setting control for the alarm time so that the alarm time is set by turning the control knob 5 in opposite direction. This bidirectional arrangement is explained in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 8 and 8a illustrating an endless indicator belt 901 with time digits 914 corresponding to a time-setting range of an alarm clock 60. The indicator belt 901 is supported for movement on rollers 902 and 913. The upper roller 913 rotates freely on a shaft 903 which is journaled in a bearing 904 provided in an upright side partition of the digital clock. The

lower roller .902 is .fixedly connected to a corresponding shaft 903 which is journaled in a lower bearing 905 The shaft 903 is provided with a shoulder 910 having a radially projecting stud 911. The stud 911 is dimensioned so as to engage with an axially projecting pin 912 on a side surface of the roller 913. Adjacent the shoulder 910, the shaft 903 is equipped with a gear wheel 908 which is in engagement with a gear segment 909. The shaft 903 is coaxially connected with an axle 906 of a control knob 907.

The operation of this bidirectional adjustment mechanism is as follows:

When the control knob 907 is rotated counterclockwise, the stud 911 abuts against the pin 912 of the upper roller 913 and puts it in motion so that the supported belt 901 is carried with it. The gear segment 909, which is freely rotatable in the counterclockwise direction, becomes disengaged from the gear wheel 908. The alarm time setting is hereby effected preferably by the lower roller 902 which is mechanically coupled (dashed line 606) with the alarm clock 60. It is possible, of course, to couple the time-setting mechanism to the upper roller 903. The digits 914 are visible from a window in the chassis (not shown) of the clock device.

When the motion of the control knob 906 is reversed to a clockwise direction, the stud 911 and the pm 912 become dis engaged and the roller 913 as well as the indicator belt 901 stand still in this set position. The gear segment 909, however, becomes engaged with the gear wheel 908 and starts winding the alarm clock 60 through a suitable mechanical coupling (dashed line 60a). As soon as the gear segment 909 rolls off the gear wheel 908, the winding of the alarm clock 60 is completed.

The stopping or releasing of the alarm-producing member can be mechanically controlled by the aforementioned axial displacement of the shaft 51.

We wish it to be understood that we do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art,

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A digital clock comprising, in combination, a time indicator in the form of springing, digit-bearing plates, and at least one additional data indicator in the form of an endless belt that is rotatably mounted adjacent to said time indicator and driven by a time-dependent driving mechanism for intermittently advancing said additional data to the level of said digitbearing plates, said time-dependent driving mechanism being locatedwithin the space surrounded by said endless belt, said time indicator including a chassis with upright side partitions and said endless belt being supported for movement along one of said side partitions.

2. The digital clock according to claim 1 further comprisin a unidirectional ratchet wheel disposed between said adjustment mechanism and said driving means.

3. The digital clock according to claim 1 further comprising a time-dependent driving mechanism adjusted for advancing intermittently said additional data indicator.

4. The digital clock according to claim 3 wherein said timedependent driving mechanism advances said additional data indicator every 24 hours. i

5. The digital clock according to claim 1 further comprising rollers rotatably arranged on one of said partitions for supporting said endless belt, driving means engaging with said time-dependent driving mechanism and being coupled with one of said rollers, an adjustment mechanism including a slipper clutch and a laterally projecting control knob for manual adjustment of the setting of said indicator belt, said slipper clutch coupling said adjustment mechanism with said driving means.

6. The digital clock according to claim 5 wherein said indicator belt is provided along its periphery with a perforation, said driving means being a sprocket wheel coupled to said roller, and the sprockets of said sprocket wheel being in en-' gagement with said perforation.

7. The digital clock according to claim 5 wherein said indicator belt is provided on its inside periphery with teeth, said driving means being a gear coupled to said driving roller and engaging with said teeth.

8. A digital clock comprising, in combination, a time indicator in the form of springing, digit-bearing plates, and at least one additional data indicator in the form of two endless belts that are rotatably mounted adjacent to said time indicator and driven by a time-dependent driving mechanism for intermittently advancing said additional data to the level of said digitbearing plates, said time-dependent driving mechanism being located within the space surrounded by said endless indicator belts, a single adjustment mechanism, driving means for coupling each of, said indicator belts to said driving mechanism, a unidirectional ratchet wheel disposed between said adjustment mechanism and said driving means, said adjustment mechanism including a shaft terminated at one end thereof with a control knob and supporting for free rotation said driving means of respective indicator belts, each of said driving means being coupled with said shaft through said unidirectional ratchet wheel, and respective ratchet wheel being adjusted for engagement from opposite directions of the rotation of the driving mechanism.

9. The digital clock according to claim 11 further comprising an alarm clock device having an alarm-making member, said shaft being axially displaceable to control the blocking and unblocking of said alarm-making member.

10. The digital clock according to claim 11 further comprising a bidirectional adjustment mechanism for said alarm clock device, whereby the winding operation and the alarm time setting is controlled by said bidirectional adjustment mechanism.

11. The digital clock according to claim 10, said shaft controlling the blocking and unblocking of the alarm-making member in respective opposite axial directions 12. The digital clock according to claim 10 further comprising electrical switch means for controlling electrically said alarm-making member, and said adjustment mechanism controlling in respective opposite directions said switch means. 

1. A digital clock comprising, in combination, a time indicator in the form of springing, digit-bearing plates, and at least one additional data indicator in the form of an endless belt that is rotatably mounted adjacent to said time indicator and driven by a time-dependent driving mechanism for intermittently advancing said additional data to the level of said digit-bearing plates, said time-dependent driving mechanism being located within the space surrounded by said endless belt, said time indicator including a chassis with upright side partitions and said endless belt being supported for movement along one of said side partitions.
 2. The digital clock according to claim 1 further comprising a unidirectional ratchet wheel disposed between said adjustment mechanism and said driving Means.
 3. The digital clock according to claim 1 further comprising a time-dependent driving mechanism adjusted for advancing intermittently said additional data indicator.
 4. The digital clock according to claim 3 wherein said time-dependent driving mechanism advances said additional data indicator every 24 hours.
 5. The digital clock according to claim 1 further comprising rollers rotatably arranged on one of said partitions for supporting said endless belt, driving means engaging with said time-dependent driving mechanism and being coupled with one of said rollers, an adjustment mechanism including a slipper clutch and a laterally projecting control knob for manual adjustment of the setting of said indicator belt, said slipper clutch coupling said adjustment mechanism with said driving means.
 6. The digital clock according to claim 5 wherein said indicator belt is provided along its periphery with a perforation, said driving means being a sprocket wheel coupled to said roller, and the sprockets of said sprocket wheel being in engagement with said perforation.
 7. The digital clock according to claim 5 wherein said indicator belt is provided on its inside periphery with teeth, said driving means being a gear coupled to said driving roller and engaging with said teeth.
 8. A digital clock comprising, in combination, a time indicator in the form of springing, digit-bearing plates, and at least one additional data indicator in the form of two endless belts that are rotatably mounted adjacent to said time indicator and driven by a time-dependent driving mechanism for intermittently advancing said additional data to the level of said digit-bearing plates, said time-dependent driving mechanism being located within the space surrounded by said endless indicator belts, a single adjustment mechanism, driving means for coupling each of said indicator belts to said driving mechanism, a unidirectional ratchet wheel disposed between said adjustment mechanism and said driving means, said adjustment mechanism including a shaft terminated at one end thereof with a control knob and supporting for free rotation said driving means of respective indicator belts, each of said driving means being coupled with said shaft through said unidirectional ratchet wheel, and respective ratchet wheel being adjusted for engagement from opposite directions of the rotation of the driving mechanism.
 9. The digital clock according to claim 11 further comprising an alarm clock device having an alarm-making member, said shaft being axially displaceable to control the blocking and unblocking of said alarm-making member.
 10. The digital clock according to claim 11 further comprising a bidirectional adjustment mechanism for said alarm clock device, whereby the winding operation and the alarm time setting is controlled by said bidirectional adjustment mechanism.
 11. The digital clock according to claim 10, said shaft controlling the blocking and unblocking of the alarm-making member in respective opposite axial directions.
 12. The digital clock according to claim 10 further comprising electrical switch means for controlling electrically said alarm-making member, and said adjustment mechanism controlling in respective opposite directions said switch means. 